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submix8c

Posted 17 December 2012 - 04:58 PM

Interesting... I see a "Active Network" that states "Public Network" of type "Local Area Connection". Are you connected by WIRED? Tripredacus specifically stated

Windows won't show you the wireless icon in the systray if you are already connected to a wired connection.

You will see HOW you are connected (at this time) by clicking "See Full Map". This will more than likely SPECIFICALLY show that you're connected via a WIRED NETWORK. Betcha! You will HAVE to disconnect the WIRE to use WIRELESS (see quote, dude)!

colore

Posted 17 December 2012 - 05:12 PM

colore

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You will HAVE to disconnect the WIRE to use WIRELESS (see quote, dude)!

indeed i am wired atm, but i still wanted to see other wireless networks! i should be able to also connect to some else wireless network, should I ?or would like to see the available wireless connections, without having to unplug

Tripredacus

Posted 17 December 2012 - 06:41 PM

Windows won't let you connect to a wireless network if you are connected to a wired one. The reason is because you cannot have 2 default gateways. You will need to find a third-party "site survey" software to see what networks are available. I have none to recommend, as I log into my router to use the built-in site survey function.

bphlpt

Posted 17 December 2012 - 08:44 PM

Not true, as I found out today on my wife's laptop. (Win7 x64 as supplied straight from Dell and kept up to date from MU)

Both networks were connected simultaneously. Disconnect from either one and any internet activity continued on the other one.

(It just so happened that I did not want this behavior. I wanted it set so that if the LAN was plugged in the wireless network was disconnected. I couldn't figure out how to do this automatically when I quickly looked, so I just disconnected the wireless network and left it to NOT automatically re-connect. If it's needed, I just have to select it and click "connect" so that's easy enough.)

cluberti

Posted 17 December 2012 - 09:07 PM

cluberti

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Windows 8 will let you connect to as many networks as you have devices for, but it's only going to use one *long term*. It will disable any it isn't using within a short time, as connections that may be active on it get FIN'd (or some other disconnect, of course. There can be a decent amount of time where multiple connections are active, though.

bphlpt

Posted 17 December 2012 - 11:31 PM

bphlpt

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You will see HOW you are connected (at this time) by clicking "See Full Map". This will more than likely SPECIFICALLY show that you're connected via a WIRED NETWORK. Betcha! You will HAVE to disconnect the WIRE to use WIRELESS (see quote, dude)!

This was not true in my wife's laptop's case. The pic I showed above is the one that showed most clearly that she was indeed connected though both connections, LAN and wireless, at the same time. When I clicked the "See Full Map", it just showed one "leg" at a time, based on the pulldown box selection. But it did show that she was connected through both connections. That screen also had options to show other "legs" that she was not connected through, such as Bluetooth.

I think the reason the OP is having problems is because of something he disabled or removed:

the problem is that somehow that icon doesnt appear in traybar (I probably disabled it)

He probably disabled/removed more than just the icon in the traybar, probably something key in the wireless system itself. My desktop doesn't have that icon or the "Manage Wireless Networks" option, but my desktop doesn't have any wireless card or driver installed. The "See Full Map" option dropdown box might show the OP whether there is a wireless connection installed, just not active, available to be connected to, but I'm not sure.

@colore, assuming you have a wireless card and driver installed in your computer and a wireless router or whatever properly set up and the two appear to be talking to each other, (you sometimes have to set the wireless side of the router up through the wired connection), what happens when you click "Connect to a network" and try to establish a connection through that wireless card? And is this a home wireless connection you are trying to establish or at an Internet cafe or hotspot or something?

Tripredacus

Posted 18 December 2012 - 08:59 AM

The pic I showed above is the one that showed most clearly that she was indeed connected though both connections, LAN and wireless, at the same time.

I wonder if your wireless software has something to do with it. I see those two Intel Wireless options in your picture as well. Even so, if you are able to connect to more than 1 network at a time, you only will get one default gateway, thus internet access can be used on only one and not the other. The only potential reason I can see why you would want to connect to more than one is to use the wireless for internet, and use the physical lan to connect to network shares in a private LAN. I figured it was possible using static IPs or with other wireless software, but I typically don't even install those things and let Windows manage the wireless connections.

bphlpt

Posted 18 December 2012 - 10:03 AM

bphlpt

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No special wireless hardware/software installed, that I know of. Just straight from Dell and updated with MU. I did not intend the two networks to both be active at the same time and I did nothing at all special to enable it. Both networks were set up with straight stock default settings, except network name and password, of course. (They are both using the same router to connect out to the internet, if that makes any difference, so the only difference, in my case, between the two networks is the route taken from the laptop to the router, either wireless or Ethernet.) Anyway, if I am connected to the Internet through the LAN connection and have a browser open to any site at all, then disconnect/unplug the LAN and connect/enable the wireless network and click any link at all on the already opened page it goes there with no hesitation and no page refreshing necessary at all. Then if I disconnect the wireless network and plug in the LAN and click any link at all, again it goes there with no hesitation and no page refreshing necessary at all. The next link selection is not made before I am connected to the network I want to use. It makes no difference if I have both networks connected at the same time before I disconnect from one of them, or if I disconnect first, so have no Internet connection at all for a bit, before connecting the other one. If I keep both networks connected simultaneously browsing works just fine as well, though I have no idea which network it actually uses at that time. I don't have multiple different physical connections (routers/LANs) to experiment with. I wasn't trying to set it up this way, but if you want me to tell you any particular settings just let me know.

Tripredacus

Posted 18 December 2012 - 10:27 AM

Sure, its right in your screenshot. You have the Intel PRO/Set software, as well as Intel My WiFi installed.

I don't know what the My WiFi software does, I haven't used it before. Maybe if I get bored later I can try to connect to wireless and wired on a notebook with stock Windows (driver only, no additional software) to see if it is possible.

Oh, you can see what network you are using by running:

netstat -v

Your Local Address column will show you which IP your NIC is using to go out into the world, from there you can determine which NIC has the default gateway allowing for internet access.

bphlpt

Posted 18 December 2012 - 12:08 PM

Sure, its right in your screenshot. You have the Intel PRO/Set software, as well as Intel My WiFi installed.

None that I installed. That came straight from Dell and I'm not even sure what part either of those plays in this situation. I did nothing to set either of them up or change anything at all different from when it came straight from Dell. The laptop is now a year old and it has been running fine all this past year with only updates from WU. Other various software has been installed, but nothing at all that has anything to do with any kind of networking or Internet access besides browers, ftp clients, etc.

I'll post the data you and jaclaz asked for when I get home later this evening.

bphlpt

Posted 18 December 2012 - 08:22 PM

Sure, its right in your screenshot. You have the Intel PRO/Set software, as well as Intel My WiFi installed.

It ends up that both of these were installed, but disabled, so they weren't doing anything.

I enabled/connected to both LAN/wireless networks, set the Wireless network to "Connect automatically" and to "Connect to a more preferred network if available" then restarted the laptop so it would pick which network it wanted to use.

Tripredacus

Posted 18 December 2012 - 08:43 PM

Your wired and wireless networks are in the same subnet it appears. Either way you should have noticed the .6 and .9 addresses. But you should have tried looking at the ipconfig -all during that testing. You would have noticed a default gateway appeared on the active connection.

bphlpt

Posted 18 December 2012 - 10:40 PM

Your wired and wireless networks are in the same subnet it appears. Either way you should have noticed the .6 and .9 addresses.

Yes I knew that, and saw that. And the point you are trying to make? I mean I had only butted into this thread when you said that you couldn't be connected to a wired and wireless network at the same time as a possible reason why colore was having problems, when my recent observations, backed up by cluberti's info re Win8, seemed to indicate that you could. Since then I've only been trying to provide requested data.

But you should have tried looking at the ipconfig -all during that testing. You would have noticed a default gateway appeared on the active connection.

True. Since I noticed that both networks had that when they were both connected when I did the original ipconfig -all as jaclaz suggested. That would have been easier. But then I was only following your suggestion:

Oh, you can see what network you are using by running:

netstat -v

Your Local Address column will show you which IP your NIC is using to go out into the world, from there you can determine which NIC has the default gateway allowing for internet access.

Would you like me to do any more testing and provide any more info? Did any of this give you any ideas as to what colore could do to solve his problem?